TEST DRIVE: AUGUST

[empevents]

— TEST DRIVE: AUGUST —

Welcome to empatheias' test drive meme. This test drive is to help interested players test their characters in the game's environment. We've included a few prompts that incorporate specific elements of the game, though you'll find all of them have a lot of leeway for players to get as creative as necessary. Before diving in, here are a few things we'd like to remind everyone about the game in general:

• Date reminders. Reserves open Tuesday, July 25 and Applications (Canon | OC) open a week later on August 1st.
  
  
• OC Reminder! Just a quick reminder that original characters are allowed. Those interested can also use the test drive. OCs do not need to be reserved.
  
  
• Emotions are key! Empatheias' premise focuses on how anyone's emotions can affect their environment, be it big or small. While not every emotion will cause a reaction, significant ones definitely will. How much effect a character will have will ultimately be up to you, the player. Also, while we're giving a lot of leeway for the test drive, keep in mind that there will be some limits in the actual game.
  
  
• Everyone has an amulet. All characters have a unique amulet that is specialized for them. It will contain all of their emotion drops and it serves as the network device. Remember, communication is telepathic. Otherwise, it works basically the same.
  
  
• Assume the character is already in the game. Because "OMG WHERE AM I IS THIS REAL LIFE" threads aren't going to be very helpful in this test drive! Plus those are going to happen in-game, anyway. So to make things easier, just assume that they've been around at least a week or so. Still learning the ropes, but not a complete "first day" experience.
  
  
• First or third person allowed. Your threads can be in either first or third, but we'd advise being flexible about it. Remember, these threads can also be used in your application for samples! Reminder: We only require one sample and it can be done in either format. We have also made a change to our sample requirements, so look over the Applications page!
  
  
• Transfer to in-game. If accepted, you can assume threads made on the Test Drive happen in-game if the scenario can reasonably fit. These threads do not count toward AC.

Now with that out of the way, here are some prompts you guys can work from!


PROMPTS

• Prompt A: How about giving the emotions a try?

• Prompt B: Refer to the Task Board and choose a task your character may be interested in taking up. For this prompt, you could have your character ask for help, already be in the middle of the job, or react to it in some way. Perhaps they were an unfortunate victim or want to create a job countering an existing one. You could even have a prompt making a job request. Creating jobs for the purpose of the test drive is absolutely doable.

• Prompt C: How about giving the amulets a go? Start a telepathic conversation and see how it works. Remember, the amulets are sending out the owner's thoughts so might want to be careful about how the stream of consciousness goes...

• Prompt D: The citizens of Verens are nothing if not opportunistic, and the new solid rock pillars jutting down to the surface have already had a few people wondering how to make a profit out of them. Luckily most of these entrepreneurs are having to go through copious amounts of red tape in order to ensure their use of the pillars does not endanger the island or the participants. That doesn’t mean these new businesses aren’t EXCITING, though!

1. Rock Climbing. Are you a thrill seeker? An all star athlete? Just looking for a good way to get yourself in shape? Well we’ve got something for you: EXXXXTREME ROCK CLIMBING XXVIV!!!!!!! Now open at the western Pillar nearest the city of Verens! Come one, come all to the most exciting and EXTREME climbing adventure. Dodge fiery and watery hazards while clinging to the cliffs of the pillars! The trip down to the surface is provided, and for those who can’t make it all the way up on their own a rescue trip up will only be 150 sylvs a trip! Take up the partner challenge and tie yourself together at the waist in order to gain extra challenge for your climbs up!
   
2. Tiered Romance. On the pillar nearest the Airship Docks, something much more calm has stakes it’s claim for business. Romantic Getaways, a company dedicated to dates and private moments for all has set up several decks built off the pillars in order to take advantage of the lovey dovey atmosphere the pillars provide. For a low fee you too could have a blind dinner date overlooking the planet’s healing surface. Also hiring waiters and waitresses to deliver food and other services to those who have rented out the decks!

• Prompt E: It’s not an old tradition by any means, but this summer the city of verens is looking for some lighthearted fun in order to help soothe everyone’s nerves after recent events. It seems like it’s working too, considering the turnout! All activities for these games are Arehtei themed, too! It’s all in good fun, and generating some nice peaceful emotions might just be what the doctor ordered for most of the Arehtei.

1. Wisp Capture. Arehtei themed artificial wisps have been set free across the island! Each one glows in the color of their respective Arehtei and the goal is to collect a certain amount in order to win the competition. Specially crafted nets and mesh bags are given to each pair participating before sending them out after the last bit of light in the sky has darkened. Depending on how many of what aligned Arehtei wisp gathered, the items you can win will change! But be careful, you have to catch at LEAST 100 wisps to qualify for a prize, and you only get one. Aiada, Piphron and Sosyne will give out small pouches of gems, while Elios, Peromei, Daimonia and Thras will give out sylvs. A single special silver wisp can be found, which will award both prizes on top of whatever color wisp has the majority!
   
2. Food Competition. Are you really, really, REALLY hungry? Come compete in an Arehtei themed team food eating competition in the name of your chosen Arehtei!!! But there’s one catch: this competition is ONLY done in pairs. One partner eats, the other must contribute by feeding them. Hopefully you’re not partnered up with someone you don’t get along with or you might get more food on your face than in your mouth. Participants are given small rings with gems themed around their chosen arehtei as a prize.
   
3. Ruin Race. In an attempt to boost everyone’s competitive side, the local Parks and Recreation department of Verens is holding a Test of Courage. Drop by the ruins in the outskirts of town to participate. Just remember - the prize of completing this task is coming out of this ~alive~. (So spooky!)
   
   
   1. Partner up. All participants are requested to find a partner to complete a task together. Partners can either be of the same alignment, or have different alignments. The task is to go into the ruins and look for coloured talismans that pertain to each member’s Arehtei. It might be best to screen your partner, because you wouldn’t want them running off on you as soon as you hear some thumping noises inside, right?
      
   2. Secret Ruins. These ruins are dark and like a maze - if you exit and enter again, the paths will be different compared to the last time. There doesn’t seem to be any threats, but there are croaking, flapping, and thumping noises that can be heard every now and then. The only source of light is the lamp that is given to you upon signing up, too. At some point, you might encounter dead end upon dead end. Remember what the organiser told you before entering: Compliments complement the forgotten past. Spread some positivity between you and your partner, and the walls will light up and show you the path to the talismans.
      
   3. Talis-MAAAAAAN! In the off-chance that you pick up the wrong talisman, you’ll start to feel different. Pessimism will seep through your veins, and so will anger and fear. It will deter you from making the right choices, following the right path, and working with your partner. Fortunately, the effects wear off in twenty minutes. You won’t be acting crazy all night!

• Prompt F: With all the trial and tribulation around Elios, the summer job boom was almost missed. But somehow, there just seems to be an overabundance of summer jobs this time around! From waterpark jobs to babysitting and dog walking to monster culling, there’s an abundance of jobs looking for anyone to take them. It’s created a worker’s market where pay is going through the roof!

1. MANY MONSTERS. The Yekar Wobbler population is OUT OF CONTROL! The strangely cooler air during the last couple of months has prompted a more active than usual breeding season. The small cotton ball looking creatures look quite similar to Aiada’s sprites, but they prey on farmer’s crops! You can either rush in and help bag them up immediately, or you could be one of the lucky group to go down to Elios’ Domain to gather the Lalri Flower. This flower has strong attracting properties that the Yekar Wobblers are especially weak to. It’ll make bagging them up a lot easier! And it’ll keep them from swarming you—or your partner and chomping down into your arms and legs! (Don’t worry, their mouths are too small to do too much damage, but boy does it smart like a bee sting!)
   
2. Babysitting Blues. There’s a definite shortage of babysitters, though for some reason the families that need sitters need at least two for their troublesome tots. No two sitters will have only ONE child to look after but at least 3 troublesome, toddling, terrifying children to look after. Keep them out of danger, and do your best with feedings, and good luck if you decide to go out to the park!
   
3. Waterpark Angels. A waterpark has opened up outside of the city to take advantage of the warming temperatures and it needs many hands on deck. Check for swimsuit appropriateness, lost items,and make sure people are queueing properly. Bonus? On your time off you get admission to the park and rides FOR FREE! Bust out some suntan lotion cause you’re going to need it.

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include talking frogs and/or bubblegum flavoured pizza.

For your threads, put the Character Name and the Canon in the subject line to help readily identify them. You're also welcome to use more than one prompt for respondents to choose from. If you have any questions or want to brush up on the game information, refer to the Game Information entry. Otherwise, tag around and have fun!

Comments

[shellasmart]

The air around him drops in temperature as the shock hits the teenager, yet he hardly notices the reflection from his emotions. It takes all his focus to answer without bombarding his brother further even with the answer slowed but not yet a normal pace for conversation.

But I saw Karai - Raph, where are you?!

Not waiting for a reply, Donatello slips his way outside to get in motion. He needs to see his brother...! He could explain everything if he could only see for himself his brother from that nightmare future is indeed alive.

[one_eyed_brother]

Near the big tree... and yeah, Karai got me, I thought that was it but... Suddenly I was here.

Raphael opened his eye to look around him, part of him wondering if he'd just suddenly find his brother there, even though he knew that wasn't likely.

[shellasmart]

Please stay there, I'm coming! It is the last message he can manage before he lets the connection drop to avoid flooding Raphael with sheer noise from his own racing thoughts.

Even being a newcomer himself, Donatello knows exactly where to head and takes off in an all out sprint for the tree. His path leads up and over buildings, darting down alleyways - all to make his path as directly towards the tree as possible without sparing a second. It barely takes him a couple of minutes, the obstacles of Verens not on par with those of New York and the area of land it covers far less. A leap out from a last rooftop takes him to a branch of the tree only to spring off and land in a crouch with the grace expected of shadow warriors. Rising to stand, he looks directly to Raphael - only to freeze in place.

It's him...it's really him. He grasps for words or motion or something yet it all slips out of reach until he finally chokes out one word, "....Raphael."

[one_eyed_brother]

"Don... Ya look like you've seen a ghost. Come here." Raph said, moving forward to grab his brother close. His hug was even firmer than the first time he'd seen his brother in over thirty years. It felt almost desperate. "You're good... that's... that's good."

[shellasmart]

A touch from his brother would have been enough to shake the heavy feeling in his limbs, but being drawn into a hug shatters the uncertainty that had held him. Raising his own arms to grasp around behind his brother's shell, Donatello leans forward against his brother as he closes his eyes and tries to echo that strength in the hold.

This is real, isn't it? It has to be...

A shudder of an exhale escapes, then he nods his head as he starts to answer quietly.

"Yeah, I...I'm fine. The trap worked. We stopped the Shredder for good, Raph."

[one_eyed_brother]

The one eyed turtle gripped the strap on Donnie's back, as another way to secure his brother close as he listened, a bubble of hatred making the area a little warmer around him. "Good... It doesn't get back what he took, but... it's better than him still... still." He said, unable to finish the comment as a sadness began to war with the anger, cooling things, and making it seem almost wet. "The... the others, they get to rest..." He stated, but there was a small question there, wondering if it was true.

[shellasmart]

The grip on his bo staff's holster belt gives enough of a tug that he feels the anchor point. It seems he would not need to coax himself into letting go just yet, his own three fingers of each hand faintly curling into his brother's coat. He stays near as the wave of warmth rises and gives way for a humid feeling, but his own eyes open partway with his head at his brother's shoulder. His vision is blurred at the lower edge, but he dare not move.

Then at the mention of the others being able to rest, a sharp pang of guilt twists behind his plastron only to be reflected in a sudden crack branching out through the ground behind him. It stops in a matter of feet, left narrow and shallow. Donatello doesn't even seem to notice as he speaks quietly, "There is a possibility they could come here, or may have already been here. ...though the only evidence for that is you being here."

[one_eyed_brother]

"I... if they are here, I haven't seen them, but that's not saying there isn't a chance." Raph admitted, bringing his hands to the edge of Donnie's shell so he could look his brother over, the same amazement there that had been present when he's seen his purple dressed brother for the first time in three decades. "Shell... i can't get over how great it is to know you are here, to see you again... brother."

[shellasmart]

The pressure lessens as Raphael shifts his grip, and obligingly, Donatello releases his grasp on the coat his brother wears. One hand lingering around his brother's side loosely, Donatello bows his head forward with a murmur of an apology as he rubs at his eyes with the other. Tears no longer interfering with his vision, and purple mask straight, the teenager looks up to his older brother. He is here, and that is what matters right now.

Raphael had been happy to see him before; far more so than Mikey or Leo. So really the probability of being glad to see him again had to be fair - yet Donatello feels flustered all the same from the affectionate words and attention. It draws up a crooked smile and a warm flush in his face.

"Ah come on, Raph... You'll get tired of seeing me soon enough," Donatello answers with humor. Good luck getting him to leave his brother.

[one_eyed_brother]

"Don... I went thirty years not seeing yer mug, trust me... gonna take more than that to get me sick of seeing ya again." Raph said, offering a small smile, even as his one eye took in his brother yet again. "Shell you look skinny..." He added, comparing himself to his brother, who was much leaner, and more so than just the difference in their fighting style allotted for. No, Raph had thirty years of hard, barely surviving fighting and training under his belt, to make him thicker and more dense than his much younger brother. "At least the height should catch up eventually." he added with a smirk.